Meditations for the Feast and Octave: of the Holy Heart of Mary: The Vigil of the Feast (5): Our Duties to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Our Duties to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Why has the King of all hearts given us this Feast of His most lovable Heart? Solely that we may discharge our obligations to Him. We have four principal duties to fulfil.

The first duty is adoration. Let us adore the Heart of Jesus with all our heart and all our strength. It is infinitely worthy of adoration because it is the Heart of God, the Heart of the O nlybegotten Son of the Eternal Father and of God made man. Let us adore this precious Heart, offering I t all the adoration ever accorded to It in heaven and on earth. 0 my Saviour, may the whole universe unite in adoration of Thy divine Heart! I willingly consent to be reduced to nothingness now and forever, by means of Thy grace, so that the Sacred Heart of Jesus may be incessantly adored by the whole universe.

Our second duty is to praise, bless, glorify and thank His infinitely generous Heart for Its tremendous love for the Eternal Father, His most holy Mother, all the angels, all the saints, and all creatures, especially ourselves. Let us also thank Him for all the gifts, favors and blessings poured out from this immense sea of graces upon all things created, particularly upon us. 0 most sublime Heart, I offer Thee all the praise, glory and thanksgiving rendered Thee in heaven and on earth, i n time and eternity. May all hearts praise and bless Thee forever!

The third duty is to ask pardon of His kind Heart for all the sorrow and suffering endured for our sins, and to offer in reparation all the satisfaction and joys given to Our Lord by His Eternal Father, by His Blessed Mother and by all ardent and faithful hearts. Let us accept out of love for the Sacred Heart all the trials, sorrow and affliction which may come upon us.

The fourth duty is to love this divine Heart with all possible affection and fervor in the name of those who do not love It and to offer It the entire love of all hearts that belong to It. 0 Heart all - lovable and all-loving, when shall I begin to love Thee as I should? I am under countless obligations to love Thee; yet, alas, I realize that I have not

even commenced. Grant me the grace to begin straightway to love Thee. Destroy in my heart whatever is displeasing to Thee and establish instead the reign of Thy holy love.

Ejaculatory prayer:

"0 God of my heart, 0 Jesus, my portion forever:' Deus cordis mei, pars mea, Jesus in aeternum.

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The Sacred Heart of Jesus Is Our Refuge,

Our Oracle and Our Treasure

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is Our Refuge

IN THE Feast we are celebrating, our most loving Saviour has given us His Heart not only as the object of our homage and adoration, but also as our refuge and our shelter. Let us have recourse to this haven in all our undertakings, and seek therein our consolation in our sorrows and afflictions. Let us place ourselves in the shadow of its protection against the malice of the world, against our own passions and the snares of the devil; let us retire to this shelter of goodness and mercy to shield our. selves from all the perils and miseries of life. Let us seek refuge in the Sacred Heart, in the tower of strength, where we may escape the vengeance of divine justice for our sins which caused the death of the very Author of lift. May this most benign and generous Heart be our shelter and our refuge in all our necessities!

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is Our Oracle

Our Divine Lord has given us His Heart also to be our oracle. How much more valuable is this gift than the first oracle which was placed in the tabernacle of Moses and afterwards in the temple of Solomon! The first oracle was confined to one place, but ours is to be found wherever our Saviour i s present. The former remained in existence but a few centuries; ours will last until the end of time. The oracle of Old Law spoke by the voice of an angel, but the oracle of the New Law is the very voice of Christ Himself. 0 Jesus, Thou dost speak heart to

heart, teaching us Thy will, resolving our doubts, smoothing our difficulties when we have recourse to Thy Sacred heart with faith, humility and confidence.

If we wish to know what God asks of us upon different occasions, if we have a difficult task to undertake, if we are in doubt or perplexity, let us have recourse to the Heart of Our Lord, celebrating Holy Mass in His honor or else receiving Holy Communion. Thus, we shall experience the consoling effects of His goodness.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is Our Treasure

Our most lovable Redeemer has also given us His most loving Heart to be our treasure. It is an immense and inexhaustible treasure which enriches heaven and earth with infinite blessings. Let us draw from this treasure whatever we need to pay our infinite debts to divine justice for our failings. Let us offer the Most Sacred Heart in satisfaction for our numberless sins, offenses and negligences.

If we lack a particular virtue, we must draw upon the treasure house of all virtues, the Sacred Heart of Jesus. If we need humility, let us beg Him to impart to us a share in His profound humility. If we need charity, let us implore Him by His most ardent charity to give us perfect charity. Likewise we may develop each virtue in turn.

When we need a special grace to meet certain circumstances, let us ask our Lord through His most benign Heart to grant it to us from His Sacred Heart, our treasure house.

If we desire to help the souls in purgatory, let us offer God our precious treasure that He Himself may take from it the price due His justice.

When the poor beg for alms, we should ask the Sacred Heart for the grace to respond to their appeal and give them a share in our heavenly treasure by saying this prayer: "0 most benign and generous Heart of Jesus, have mercy upon all those who suffer." When people ask to be remembered in our prayers, or make any request of us, we should lift up our hearts to Christ, our treasure, saying

with true confidence and with deep humility: "0 loving Saviour, arouse in me the feelings of Thy charitable Heart toward all who come to me for help." The heart of every man is attached to whatever is his treasure. Let us so direct our life that all the affections of our heart may be concentrated on the greatest of all treasures, the most amiable Heart of Jesus.

Ejaculatory prayer:

"0 God of my heart, 0 Jesus, my love forever." Deus cordis mei, amor meus, Jesus in aeternum.

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The Sacred Heart of Jesus Is the Perfect Model

and Rule of Our Lives

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is Our

Perfect Model

WE SHALL never be able to understand adequately and esteem at its full value the inconceivable grace our Lord has granted us through the gift of His Divine Heart. Let us picture a man who was such a favorite of a king that he could truthfully say: "The king's heart belongs to me." What happiness and joy to be so favored! But we have infinitely more than the heart of an earthly king. We have the Heart of the King of Kings, who loves us so ardently that each one of us can truly say: "The Heart of Jesus belongs to me." Yes, this admirable Heart is mine. It is mine because the Eternal Father has given it to me; i t is mine because the Blessed Virgin has given it to me; it is mine because He Himself has given it to me, not only to be my refuge and shelter in my needs, to be my oracle and my treasure, but also to be the model and rule of my life and of my actions. I wish to study this rule constantly so as to follow i t faithfully.

I must consider what the Heart of Jesus hates and what it loves, in order to hate only what i t hates and love only what it loves. The only thing it hates or ever shall hate is sin. Did the gentle Heart of Our Lord feel any hatred for the miserable Jews who persecuted Him so unjustly, or for the executioners who treated Him so cruelly? No, He never experienced the emotion of hatred. On the contrary, He besought His Eternal Father to pardon His executioners and even excused the most outrageous of all crimes.

I wish to follow the Divine Rule for love of Thee, my Saviour. I will hate nothing but sin; I will love all that Thou lovest, even my enemies. With the help of Thy grace I will do all the good I can to those who seek to harm me.

Sentiments That Should Fill Our Hearts in

Imitation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

My rule tells me that I must have in my heart what is in the Heart of Our Lord: "For let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2, 5). These sentiments are:

1. His affection for the person and will of His Eternal Father. He so loves His Father that He has sacrificed Himself and is still prepared to sacrifice Himself a hundred thousand times for the glory of God the Father. His love for the divine will is so great that never once in the course of His life did He prefer His own will and found His entire satisfaction in doing His Father's will: "My meat is to do the win of him that sent me" (John 4, 34)

2. Another sentiment of His Heart is horror of sin. He hates evil to such a degree that He delivered Himself to the wrath of His enemies and to the torments of the Cross to crush the infernal monster.

3. A third sentiment is His esteem for the Cross and for suffering, which He loves so tenderly that the Holy Ghost, speaking of His Passion, called it the day of His Heart's joy: "In the day of the joy of his heart" (Can. 3, 11)

4. His love for His Mother is the fourth sentiment of His divine Heart. He loves her alone more than all His angels and saints together

5. There is also a sentiment of charity for us. Our Saviour so devotedly loves us that " i t seems," says St. Bonaventure, "that He hates Himself for us." In tantum me diligis, ut te pro me odisse videaris.

6. Lastly, there is the attitude of His Heart towards the world. He regards it as something accursed and outcast, openly declaring that it has no part in His prayers: "I pray not for the world" (John 17, 9), and that His children arc not of the world: "They are not of the world, as I also am not of the world" (John 17, 16).

Such are the divine principles I wish to observe for love of Thee, my Saviour. I long to love God with all my heart, with all my soul and with all my strength. I long also to find my satisfaction i n following in all things and everywhere His most adorable will. I long so to abominate all kinds of sin, that by means of Thy holy grace I may rather die than ever consent to it. 0 my Jesus, make me love crosses and afflictions that I may seek all my joy in them for the love of Thee, and that I may say with St. Paul: "I am filled with comfort: I exceedingly abound with joy in all our tribulation" (2 Cor- 7 , 4)

Grant me a share in Thy very great love for Thy holy Mother that she after Thyself may be the centre of my veneration and fervent devotion. Impress upon my heart the hatred Thou hast for the world. Make me detest it as a veritable antichrist which is always opposed to Thee and has crucified Thee so relentlessly. Grant, I beseech Thee, 0 God of my heart, the grace,~ that for the love of Thee I may always preserve in my soul an entire and perfect charity for my neighbor. This is the rule of rules: "And whosoever shall follow this rule, peace on them" (Gal. 6, 16).

Ejaculatory prayer:

"0 Sacred Heart of Jesus, law and rule of our heart." 0 Cor Jesu, lex et regula cordis nostri.

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Jesus Gave Us His Sacred Heart to Be Our Heart

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is Given

TO Us TO BE OUR HEART

THE Son of God gives us His Heart not only to be the model and rule of our life, but also to be our heart, so that by the gift of this Heart, immense, infinite and eternal, we may fulfil all our duties to God in a manner worthy of His infinite perfections. We have three obligations towards God:

I. To adore His divine grandeur

2. To render Him thanks for His unspeakable gifts

3. To implore Him to grant through His divine generosity all the necessities of soul and body

How are we able to discharge these duties in a manner worthy of God? We are utterly unable to do so. Even if we had the mind, the heart and the strength of all angels and men united, and if we were to use them to adore, thank and love God and to satisfy His divine justice, we could accomplish absolutely nothing to discharge our obligations as creatures of God. We have, however, received from our divine Saviour the gift of His adorable Heart which is the perfect means of fulfilling all these duties. We should employ the Sacred Heart as if It were our own heart, to adore God fittingly, to love Him perfectly, and to satisfy all our obligations adequately so that our homage and love may be worthy of His supreme majesty. Eternal and infinite thanks be rendered Thee,~ 0 good Jesus, for the infinitely precious gift of Thy divine Heart. May all the angels, saints and all creatures bless Thee forever.

How WE SHOULD MAKE USE OF THE SACRED

Heart of Jesus

What happiness and what wealth to possess the divine Heart of Jesus! What a treasure to have at our disposal! How great is our obligation, 0 my Saviour, because of Thy incomprehensible goodness! Thou dost ask the Eternal Father to make us one with Him and with Thee., as Thou and He arc but one. Consequently Thou dost wish to be one in heart with Thee and with Thy Adorable Father. Thou hast willed to be our Head, and hast willed us to be Thy members and to have but one heart and one spirit with Thee. Thou hast made us children of Thy Heavenly Father; Thou hast given us Thy divine Heart, so that we may love the Father with Thy very own heart.

Thou hast assured us that the Adorable Father loves us even as He loves Thee. "Thou hast loved them, as thou hast also loved me' (John 17, 23). Thou dost love us with the same Heart with which the Father loves Thee: "As the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you" (John 15, 9). Thus, Thou dost give us Thy Heart that we may love the Father and Thyself with the same heart and with the same love with which Thou lovest us. We should, therefore, employ Thy Sacred Heart to offer Thee our adoration, praise, thanksgiving and all our other duties with a reverence and a love worthy of Thy infinite greatness.

What must we do to employ the great Heart that God has given us? We must do two things. First, whenever we adore, praise, thank and love God, or practise acts of some virtue, or accomplish some deed in His service, we must renounce our own heart which is poisoned with the venom of sin and of self-love. Secondly, we must unite ourselves to the love, charity, humility and all the holy dispositions of His Sacred Heart, so that we may be worthy to adore, love, praise, serve and glorify God with the Heart of God.

0 my Saviour, extend the power of Thy eternal arm to separate me from myself and unite me to Thee. Pluck out my miserable heart and replace it with Thine own, enabling me to say: I will give praise to

thee, 0 Lord, with my whole heart" (PS. 9, 2). I will praise Thee and love Thee, my Lord, with m y whole heart- with the great Heart of Jesus, which is my own heart.

0 all lovable and all loving Heart of my Saviour, be Thou the Heart of my heart, the soul of m y soul, the spirit of my spirit, the life of my life and the sole principle of all my thoughts, words and actions, of all the faculties of my soul, and of all my senses, both interior and exterior. Ejaculatory prayer:

"0 Heart all mine, I possess all things in possessing Thee!" 0 Cor meum, Cor unicum, in te mihi sunt omnia!

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Profound Humility, of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Self-abasement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Humility is a virtue including an infinity of degrees because there are innumerable sources of humiliation. There are, however, three fundamentals. The first is our nothingness, which is a bottomless abyss of abjection and humiliation. The second is the infinite grandeur of God for A greatness necessarily involves lowliness in those who arc inferior to it, and the greater the elevation, the greater is the demand of humiliation on the part of the inferior. That is why the supreme greatness of the majesty of God should impress on created beings an abasement infinite i n itself. The third principal humiliation is sin. The least of our sins is an infinite abyss of abasement, and God could justly annihilate us for our smallest fault.

Self-abasement is the first effect that humility should produce in our heart. It operated prodigiously in the Heart of our Divine Saviour because Jesus, as man, understood very clearly that He Himself was nothing and of Himself had only nothingness.

Secondly, His very clear perception of the immense grandeur of God held our Lord continually in a state of incomprehensible lowliness.

Thirdly, the God-Man realized that He was a son of Adam, and that original sin is an immense ocean of sin. It is the very fountainhead of all the sins past, present and future in the whole world, even if it should last for thousands of years more. Jesus understood that if He had been merely man and had been born of an ordinary mother, and if He had not been preserved at the moment of His conception, He would have been as capable as the other children of Adam of committing sin. This realization held Him in a state of profound humiliation. Beyond this,

He saw Himself charged with all the crimes of the world as if they had been His own. Peccata nostra sua esse voluit, says St. Augustine, and He saw Himself obliged to bear before God the humiliation of a number of sins as great as the drops of water and grains of sand in the sea.

0 Jesus, who could understand all the humiliations Thou didst bear on earth to destroy m y pride? How is it possible that, after all this, my heart can tolerate for one single instant this frightful monster?